Originally Posted by
JBord
I ordered from a McDonald's kiosk this summer and thought it was a perfectly fine experience. The kiosk had pictures, prices, descriptions, etc. I'm a huge fan of fast food automation so we can stop hearing the nonsense about how 15 years olds deserve a living wage
. I hope that trend catches on. When I'm at any type of restaurant where I don't order from the counter/kiosk, I want to see a real menu and interact with waitstaff. And above all that, there's no way my mother in her 70's is going to use a digital menu or order from a kiosk. She barely knows how to text.
The only time I don't have a "real" menu are at buffets/AYCE places (assuming you don't count the tablets). But that's OK for me. Similar places where they don't use tablets usually screw up the order somehow (multiple times).. Oh... and dim sum places. But that's a different story altogether. (and they employ grouchy old ladies anyway)
I use the app or kiosks before the order taker at quickserve restaurants. Partly out of being impatient (there is always a lineup at the in-person order taker) but also it's faster (I can punch the stuff out as fast as the order takers). This isn't a knock on them, just that once I get used to the layout, it's all automatic for me.
Originally Posted by
JBord
I used to get really annoyed at restaurants that had menus on their websites but no prices. At this point between inflation and supply chain shortages, I can at least understand why they wouldn't want to print prices online. Restaurants are truly stuck in a terrible position. If they print prices, they have to reprint every time the price of ground beef doubles overnight. If they use paper menus, people complain or even protest because they aren't environmentally friendly. Perhaps the answer for airports is digital menu boards (like the chalkboard) where they can simply update prices. A few of those in a restaurant/bar area could cover the food menu and maybe 80% of bar orders?
I'd still prefer printed menus at a standalone restaurant. As I mentioned, the few pages that need reprinting would not be a big impact on the environment, certainly less than from the other wastes that are generated and in most cases, can be mitigated in other ways (eg, "firestarter" for those with real fires in their kitchens or scratch paper or depending on where the paper was used before, rodent bait). As I mentioned, some of the places which put less of an emphasis on the looks of the menu (eg, most chinese restaurants) often put a small sticker on their menu to cover the original price and put in a new price. So not quite a whole reprint, but a cheat of sorts.
As for airports, I can't speak for others right now, but
YYZ has tablets fixed at the table where you order, then the wait staff brings the foods over. You can kinda use them for surfing at the same time (personally I would prefer my own tablet, but whatever works) The concept works (including the sticker shock from seeing airport pricing). I actually prefer it over the digital or chalk signboards... there's already enough distraction there.
Originally Posted by
FLYMSY
I completely agree with the above. Additionally, I can’t remember the last time that I bought food at an airport. I try to avoid going to national chain restaurants and pretty much only go to small, locally owned restaurants. Only thing I order to be delivered is pizza, again, local shop, and pay the delivery driver with cash.
I would love to do this at the airport (support small chains with interesting food), but most airports use a central service provider to manage all the tenant stalls. So it's harder to tell. But then you get the captive-audience pricing unless the chain is big enough to negotiate the pricing down...